March 11, 2012
March 11, 2012 Column Father De Celles
LENT. At 21⁄2 weeks into Lent this is just about the time many of us begin to slip a little in keeping up the penances we promised to do. That’s understandable: you’ve been doing a good job, so you think, “I deserve a break.” Much as it would have been understandable if Christ would have stopped the Roman soldier after a couple of lashes with the whip: “that’s enough I get the point.” Or maybe after sitting there a few moments with the thorns on His head, He would have taken it off, saying: “This doesn’t fit; do have something in jewel-encrusted gold?” Or maybe after walking a few hundred feet with the Cross, He would have laid it down and taken a drink from an angel, while watching St. Michael and His angels hold the Roman’s at bay. Or on the Cross, as the crowd shouted out: “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross,” maybe He should have come down saying, “you know, you’re right, I don’t deserve this.”
Yes, but He didn’t. Instead, out of love for us and in payment for our sins, He endured excruciating suffering and death. Remember, each strike of the lash across His back, each thorn driven into His head, every ounce of that heavy cross, and every moment hanging on that Cross is one of our sins. Out of love for us. So, pick up your cross and follow Him. Out of love for Him, and as reparation for your sins, renew today your commitment to keep your penances of prayer, sacrifice and charity. Love Him as He has loved you.
Strange World. Two very strange things happened in the last week or so. First, we heard a student at a Catholic university complain before Congress that the Catholic Church, refuses to pay for contraception for her and other students. What’s wrong with this picture? They chose the school freely. They knew it was Catholic. They manage somehow to pay $64,000 in tuition etc.. But she wants the Catholic Church to provide them free contraception, something that the Church fundamentally opposes.
Second, the front page of the Washington Post gave the one-sided account of a practicing lesbian, who, while attending her mother’s funeral, introduced her lover to the priest, and then was subsequently denied Communion by that priest. I’m sure we all sympathize with her over the loss of her mother. And while there is some disagreement on some of the facts of the story, and while one may question Father’s decision, one has to ask: what was she thinking? Even if the priest was wrong to deny her Communion (depending on the clarification of disputed facts he may have been absolutely required to do so by canon law), why did she think she could live a life directly and gravely contrary to the fundamental moral teachings of the Church, and still come forward to receive our Lord in Communion? Was it ignorance or contempt?
Both of these women want to be free to conduct their lives as they see fit, while at the same time they deny the Church’s freedom to practice its faith as it deems morally necessary. And in both cases the media turns reality upside down, making it seem as if the Church is the one who has instigated the an aggressive attack against these women, instead of the Church being the one under attack.
Where is respect for our religious liberty? Where is respect for facts? But perhaps even more importantly, how did we ever get to a place where even Catholics are so ignorant or disrespectful of fundamental Catholic moral doctrines?
Conference on Religious Liberty, Contraception, and the Catholic Church. With that in mind, next Saturday, March 17, St. Raymond’s will be teaming up with the Couple to Couple League (CCL) of Northern VA to cosponsor a conference addressing the president’s “contraception mandate.”
Samuel B. Casey will speak on religious liberty and the law. Mr. Casey has argued several religious liberty cases before the Supreme Court, and was the founding chairman of the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization defending religious liberty in the public square and the courts. He has served as the Dean of the Trinity Law School in Santa Ana, CA, and on the board of directors of the Christian Legal Society and Advocates International, and currently serves on the Board of Visitors for the Regent University Law School. He holds a B.A. from Stanford University and a law degree (Juris Doctor) from the University of San Francisco, where he was Articles Editor of the Law Review. He is currently Managing Director & General Counsel of the Jubilee Campaign’s Law of Life project.
Our own Fr. Mark Pilon will be explaining the Church’s teaching on contraception. Sometimes we take for granted what a treasure we have in Fr. Pilon. He is, of course, the former Chairman of Systematic Theology Department at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, and has also been an associate professor at Christendom College and its Notre Dame Graduate School (currently), and visiting professor at Catholic University of America (CUA). He has also served as a pastor (St. Ambrose, Annandale) and High School Chaplain and Vice Principal (Bishop O’Connell, Arlington). He has a B.A. from the Univ. of Detroit, an M.A. from CUA, a Sacred Theological Licentiate from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family (Rome), and a Sacred Theological Doctorate from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome). Prior to his ordination to the priesthood in 1975, he was assistant publisher and a contributing editor of Triumph Catholic Magazine. Father is the author of Magnum Mysterium: The Sacrament of Matrimony.
Finally, our own parishioners Bob and Gerri Laird will be addressing the practical response of the laity. After serving in the Army for 22 years, Bob served for many years as the Arlington Diocese’s Director for Family Life, and then as executive director of Divine Mercy Care. He has also served as assistant professor of Nuclear Engineering at the United States Military Academy (USMA). A graduate of the USMA, he and holds two Masters (Physics and Nuclear Engineering) from Penn State. He is currently president of the Cabrini Center for Catholic Health Care. Gerri was the founding director of Project Rachel and Gabriel Project and served for many years as Coordinator of Education and Training in the Office for Family Life in the Arlington Diocese. She assisted the late Rev. Richard M. Hogan in writing and editing the current CCL materials on Natural Family Planning (NFP). Bob and Gerri have taught NFP for over 28 years, and currently serve on the CCL board. They have five children and seven grandchildren, and have been married for over 41 years.

I am very excited about this conference and invite all of you, and your friends, to attend. (Caveat: Parents, the explicit nature of the talks on sexuality may not be appropriate for children). See below for more details.